British number two Aljaz Bedene suffered a frustrating loss to Mikhail Youzhny in the opening round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
The 26-year-old led 2-0 in the deciding set, but won only one more game and slipped to a 7-5 2-6 6-3 defeat against Russian veteran Youzhny.
Bedene double-faulted to lose an opening set in which he had led 4-2, but fought back well in the second and looked the favourite heading into the decider.
But Youzhny, a former top-10 player now ranked 76, dug in and took advantage of a poor Bedene service game to break for 5-3 and then serve out his first tour-level win since August.
Bedene spent last week as a hitting partner for the British Davis Cup team and is hoping to be granted permission to play for his adopted country at an International Tennis Federation board hearing later this month.
Source: PA
